Study of neutron induced charged particle reactions on 40K: (I). Thermal neutrons

The (n_th, α) (n_th, p) and (n_th, γα) reactions spectroscopical data are reported on ⁴⁰K and ¹⁴³Nd. For ⁴⁰K, values of σ_α = 0.39 ± 0.08 b, σ_p = 4.4 ± 0.9 b, σ_γα = 26 ± 4 mb are obtained and accurate measurements of E_α0 = 3491.7 ± 7 keV and E_po = 2232.9 ± 3 keV have been performed, α₁, and p₁ transitions and the ⁴⁰K(n_th, γp) reaction have not been observed. The ⁴⁰K(n_th, γα)³⁷Cl and ¹⁴³Nd(n_th, γα)¹⁴⁰Ce spectra are presented. The multipolarity of the primary low energy γ-rays is deduced from the γ-α spectra.     

Deuteron induced pickup reactions on 41Ca

The ⁴¹Ca(d, t)⁴⁰Ca and ⁴¹Ca(d, τ)⁴⁰K reactions have been investigated at a bombarding energy of 40 MeV. A distorted-wave analysis of the measured angular distributions and a sum-rule analysis of the resulting spectroscopic factors has enabled the identification of members of various particle-hole multiplets. Values obtained for the matrix elements of the $\text{1}\text{f}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>7</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{1}\text{d}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>3</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$ effective interaction are in poor agreement with values obtained from other nuclei, but are reasonably well reproduced by calculations with a simple force.     

He particle emission in fast neutron induced reactions

Cross sections for some (n, ³He + dp + n2p) and (n, + 2n2p + n³He + pt + dd + dnp) reactions induced by fast neutrons produced via breakup of 53 MeV deuterons on a Be target (E_n = 4–50 MeV; I_max at 22.5 MeV; FWHM = 15.8 MeV) were measured for isotopes of the elements I, La, Nd, Tb, Ho, Yb, W and Au by the activation technique using high-resolution γ-ray spectroscopy, wherever necessary chemical separation, and in several cases enriched isotopes as targets. Furthermore, ³He/ emission cross-section ratios were measured for Co, Ag, In, Cs, La, Ta, Au and Bi using a quadrupole mass spectrometer. The cross sections decrease as a function of increasing (N−Z)/A of the target nucleus. For target elements with Z 44, the ³He/ emission cross-section ratio increases with increasing Z; for elements with Z > 44, however, the trend is reversed. Hauser-Feshbach calculations suggest that the ³He/ emission cross-section ratios are not explainable by the statistical model.     

Cross sections and thermonuclear reaction rates of proton-induced reactions on 37Cl

The yields of γ-rays from the reactions ³⁷Cl(p, γ)³⁸Ar and ³⁷Cl(p, αγ)³⁴S have been measured as a function of bombarding energy over the ranges 0.65–2.15 MeV and 1.25–2.15 MeV respectively, and the yield of neutrons from ³⁷Cl(p, n)³⁷Ar from threshold to 2.50 MeV. The results are compared with global statistical-model calculations and thermonuclear reaction rates are calculated for the temperature range 5 × 10⁸–10¹⁰ K. The significance of these thermonuclear reaction rates for stellar nucleosynthesis calculations is discussed.     

Interfering proton and neutron transfer in the reaction C(N, N)C

Elastic scattering and one-nucleon transfer reactions induced by ¹⁶O have been investigated in the energy region 45–60 MeV on targets of ²⁶Mg, ²⁷Al, ³⁰Si and ⁴⁸Ca. Angular distributions were measured in the angular range 4°–40°. Optical model parameters were derived from the elastic scattering data and the transfer reaction data were analysed using both no-recoil and full-recoil DWBA codes. In the case of proton transfer reactions on ⁴⁸Ca, good agreement was obtained between the data and the DWBA calculations while the data for the lighter targets could not be satisfactorily reproduced. The oscillatory pattern of the angular distributions is discussed in terms of the three-parameter model of Kahana, and it is found that the model qualitatively explains the observed transition from smooth to oscillatory angular distributions.     

The reactions 2H(40Ar,n)41K and 2H(40Ar,p)40Ar and electromagnetic decays of low-lying states in 41K and 41Ar

The γ-decay of states in ⁴¹K and ⁴¹Ar populated in the reactions ²H(⁴⁰Ar, n)⁴¹K and ²H(⁴⁰Ar, p)⁴¹Ar has been investigated at a bombarding energy of 56 MeV. Using the Doppler shift attenuation method and three different stopping materials, mean lifetimes were determined for the states in ⁴¹K at 980 keV (0.5±0.2 ps), 1560 keV (0.6_?0.2^+0.3ps), 1698 keV (0.1_?0.1^+0.2ps), 2144 keV (0.8_?0.2^+0.3ps) and in ⁴¹Ar at 1354 keV (0.664_?0.08^+0.09ps). Shell-model calculations have been performed for the positive parity states in ⁴¹K using a model space of a proton hole in the $\text{1}\text{d}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>3</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ and $\text{2}\text{s}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ orbits and two neutrons in the $\text{1}\text{f}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>7</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ orbit. The resulting excitation energies and electromagnetic properties of the low-lying states are in good agreement with experiment. An empirical value for a [Y₂s]₁ contribution in the effective M1 operator is obtained.     

Continuous proton spectra emitted in 3He and deuteron induced reactions

A study of the energy and angular distributions of protons emitted in ³He induced reactions was undertaken at an incident energy of 25.6 MeV. An analysis in the framework of the pre-equilibrium hybrid model did not succeed in explaining the overall behaviour of proton spectra; a contribution due to a break-up or a double stripping of the incident particle has to be taken into account. An attempt was made to account for these processes by performing a phase space calculation. This formulation was firstly tried in the case of deuteron induced reactions for which a break-up mechanism has already been confirmed in continuous proton spectra. The calculation extended to the case of ³He induced reactions showed that a double stripping mechanism could explain the observed distribution.     

Study of α-particles produced in thermal neutron induced reactions on 235U

The ²³⁵U(n_th, α) reaction and the α-particles emitted in the thermal neutron induced fission of ²³⁵U were measured using a very pure thermal neutron beam of the Grenoble high flux reactor. An upper limit of 0.66 mb was determined for the ²³⁵U(n_th, α) reaction cross section, which is lower than all the previous results. The energy distribution of the α-particles produced by the ²³⁵U(n_th, f) reaction was measured down to 7 MeV with a non-shielded surface-barrier detector telescope assembly. The measured distribution has a quasi-Gaussian shape; it reveals, however, a pronounced deviation from such a shape at lower α-energies. Several possible explanations for this deviation are discussed.     

Resonant neutron capture in 40Ca

The neutron capture cross section of ⁴⁰Ca has been measured with ≈ 0.2 % energy resolution below E_n = 300 keV. Resonance parameters have been extracted for many new p- and d-wave resonances. Gamma-ray spectra were also measured following capture in one doublet and two resolved resonances below 50 keV. Strong feeding of low-lying p-wave levels was observed in all cases. Calculations showed that valence transitions were inadequate to account for the observed dominance of these transitions and a further mechanism is required. The average resonance parameters obtained from the data are as follows: 〈D〉 = 37 + 4keV, 10⁴S₁ = 0.16 ± 0.05, 10⁴S₂ = 2.0 ± 0.7. The average radiative widths and standard deviations of their distributions were found to be strongly l-dependent as follows: 〈Γ_γ〉_s = 1.5 ± 0.9 eV, 〈Γ_γ〉_p = 0.36 ± 0.09 eV and 〈Γ_γ〉_d = 0.7 ± 0.4 eV.     

Measurement of neutron polarization from (d,n) reactions on Mg,Si and Ca and comparison to DWBA calculations

Angular distributions of the neutron polarization produced in (d, n) reactions on ²⁴Mg and ²⁸Si were obtained in about 300 keV steps from 3.9 MeV down to 2.2 and 2.9 MeV, respectively. Excitation functions of the polarization were measured at 20° and 40° (lab) over these energy ranges. Polarization angular distributions were also measured for (d, n) reactions on ²⁸Si at 8.1 MeV and ⁴⁰Ca at 3.8 MeV. DWBA calculations are compared to the latter distributions as well as to the (d, n) cross-section data. Fluctuations in the low-energy polarization d ata from the ²⁴Mg and ²⁸Si targets made DWBA comparison of questionable value.     

Cross section measurements and thermonuclear reaction rates for 48Ca(p, γ)49Sc and 48Ca(p,n)48Sc

Absolute cross sections have been measured for the reaction ⁴⁸Ca(p, γ)⁴⁹Sc for 0.579 MeV ≦ E_{p, lab} ≦ 2.670 MeV and for the reaction ⁴⁸Ca(p, n)⁴⁸Sc for 0.956 MeV ≦ E_{p, lab} ≦ 2.670 MeV. Substantial competition effects in the cross section for ⁴⁸Ca(p, γ)⁴⁹Sc were observed at the thresholds for neutron emission to the 623 keV (3⁺), 1143 keV (2⁺) and 1402 keV (2^?) excited states of ⁴⁸Sc. Thermonuclear reaction rates were calculated from the measured cross sections for 0.1 ≦ T₉ ≦ 10.0. The new rates differ considerably from those used in earlier calculations of the production of the rare, neutron-rich intermediate mass nuclides during explosive carbon burning. In particular, the new rates may change the predicted abundances for ⁴⁸Ca, ^{49, 50}Ti and ⁵⁰V substantially. The good agreement between current global Hauser-Feshbach models and the experimental data indicates that Hauser-Feshbach calculations can provide sufficiently reliable rates for astrophysical calculations in cases where experimental data are non-existent.     

Excitation functions of some neutron threshold reactions on isotopes of molybdenum

Cross sections were measured for (n,p) reactions on ^{92, 95, 96, 97, 98}mo, (n, α) reactions on ^{92, 98}Mo, and (n, 2n) reaction on ¹⁰⁰Mo for the first time in the neutron energy range of 5.9 to 9.6 MeV. The quasi-monoenergetic neutrons were produced via the ²H(d, n)³He reaction using a deuterium gas target at a compact cyclotron. Use was made of the activation technique in combination with high-resolution γ-ray spectroscopy. Some systematic trends observed in the excitation functions are discussed. For the various isotopes of molybdenum, with increasing mass of the target nucleus, the thresholds of (n,p) and (n,α) reactions increase and the magnitudes of cross sections near the maxima of the excitation functions appear to decrease. Hauser-Feshbach calculations show that in general the excitation functions of (n, p) and (n, α) reactions are described within a factor of 2 by the statistical model only up to about 8 MeV; the (n,2n) reaction on ¹⁰⁰Mo, however, is reproduced well from threshold up to 15 MeV by this model.     

Étude du pick-up d'un neutron sur les isotones N = 20 Ca,K et Cl

Neutron pick-up in the N = 20 closed shell has been studied for the three isotones ⁴⁰Ca, ³⁹K and ³⁷Cl using the (³He, α) reaction. The results have been analyzed with previously determined optical potentials and the spectroscopic factors compared to theoretical values calculated from several models. New levels have been observed in ³⁸K. and ³⁶Cl. Spins, parities and isospins have been tentatively assigned to some of them.     

Two-hole strengths in K from the K(He, αK reaction

States in ³⁸K up to 7.13 MeV excitation have been studied using the 21 MeV ³He⁺⁺ beam of a tandem Van de Graaff and the ³⁹K(³He, α) reaction. Charged particles were analysed by a split-pole magnetic spectrograph equipped with a telescope arrangement of proportional counters for position and energy-loss measurement.     

Compound-nucleus mechanism for the (p,np̃) reaction near the neutron threshold

A compound-nucleus mechanism is considered for the reaction where the isobaric analogue resonance (IAR) is populated by a (p, n) stage and decays later emitting a proton p?. It is shown that this mechanism leads to an enhancement in the p? spectra near the IAR energy of the type expected from t · T charge exchange. This phenomenon is general, and will occur whenever the analogue state is not populated selectively in the entrance channel. For the case ⁹¹Zr(p, np?)⁹⁰Zr(g.s.) we estimate the contribution to the cross section due to this mechanism. It is found that the model reproduces the shape of the measured cross section and a normalization consistent with the uncertainties of the data. In order to handle fine-structure properties of the IAR, we develop a version of the external-mixing model particularly adapted for these purposes.     

Complete fusion and quasi-fission reactions induced by Kr ions on heavy targets

Cross sections for fission (complete fusion) and quasi-fission are measured at a given angle for the systems Kr + Ho, Kr + W, Kr + Bi, Kr + U in the energy range 450–525 MeV. The cross sections for complete fusion are unexpectedly low and the cross sections for quasi-fission are high. The cross section for close collisions (sum of the complete fusion and quasi-fission cross sections) is compared to the value calculated with the critical distance concept. The possibility that complete fusion does not occur for the lowest impact parameters is discussed.     

Deeply bound hole states and isobaric analog states observed by neutron pickup reactions on even tin isotopes

Deeply bound hole states in the odd tin isotopes ^{115, 117, 119, 123}Sn were investigated by using 81 MeV (³He, α) and 52 MeV (p, d) reactions. Excitation of low-spin states was largely suppressed in (³He, α) reactions due to the angular-momentum mismatch so that the excitation energies and widths of the $\text{1}\text{g}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>9</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ states have been clearly determined. DWBA analyses showed that the deeply bound hole states have spectroscopic factors less than 20% of the sum-rule limit. Isobaric analog states $\text{1}\text{g}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>9</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{, 2}\text{p}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>3</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{and}\text{2}\text{p}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ corresponding to the ground and two lowest excited states of In isotopes were investigated in ^{115, 117, 119, 121, 123}Sn isotopes. Coulomb displacement energies were deduced. DWBA analyses of these states were used to check the calculations for the deeply bound states. The spectroscopic factors of the analog states are in good agreement with the sum-rule prediction.     

Cross sections and thermonuclear reaction rates for 42Ca(p, γ)43Sc, 44Ca(p, γ) 45Sc, 44Ca(p,n) 44Sc and 45Sc(p,n)45Ti

The yield of γ-rays from the reaction ⁴²Ca(p, γ)⁴³Sc has been measured as a function of bombarding energy over the range 0.63–3.01 MeV, from ⁴⁴Ca(p, γ)⁴⁵Sc over the range 0.775–4.00 MeV, from ⁴²Ca(p, p'γ)⁴²Ca over the range 2.24–3.01 MeV, and from ⁴⁴Ca(p, p'γ)⁴⁴Ca over the range 1.90–5.03 MeV. The cross section of the reaction ⁴⁴Ca(p, n)⁴⁴Sc has been measured from threshold to a bombarding energy of 5.05 MeV by observation of the 1157 keV γ-ray associated with the residual ⁴⁴Sc activity, and the cross section of the reaction ⁴⁵Sc(p, n)⁴⁵Ti has been measured from threshold to a bombarding energy of 4.00 MeV both by observation of the annihilation radiation associated with the residual ⁴⁵Ti activity and by measurement of the total neutron yield with a wide-angle BF₃ tube and paraffin detector. All these data are compared with statisticalmodel calculations and satisfactory agreement is achieved. Thermonuclear reaction rates for the (p, γ) and (p, n) reactions are calculated for the temperature range 5 × 10⁸-10¹⁰K and the significance of these results for explosive nucleosynthesis in stars is discussed.     

Heavy ion induced transfer reactions on 148Nd

Transfer reactions induced by ¹⁶O and ¹⁸O beams on ¹⁴⁸Nd were measured with a time-of-flight setup at 72 MeV incident energy. The angular distributions are bell shapes having their maxima at angles somewhat below the grazing angle. The excitation in the final nuclei takes place (if possible) near the optimum Q-value and is spread over 5 MeV for the one-particle transfer reactions and up to 10 MeV for the multiparticle transfers. The cross sections for the individual channels are explained mostly by Q-window considerations. In spite of the differences in the individual channels the total transfer cross section integrated over excitation energy, angle, and all channels turns out to be the same same for both ¹⁶O and ¹⁸O beams. This cross section amounts to 20 % of the total reaction cross section and nicely fills the gap between the measured fusion cross section and the total reaction cross section obtained from optical model calculations based on elastic scattering data.